


Collateral Damage

by QuietDarkness



Series: Simplicity and Complexity (Harrisco) [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, harrisco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-10-14 23:35:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10546260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietDarkness/pseuds/QuietDarkness
Summary: A meta who can rewire brains should be par for the course. But what happens in the wake of an attack on Harry has unexpected and painful repercussions for everyone, especially Cisco. Is this the end of their relationship?(Part 5)'Opposites don't just attract. They catch fire and burn the entire city down.'





	

Harry hadn't been Harry for much longer than ten minutes, but it was enough to change everything.

Finding metas was part of the job. It wasn't every day the metas came to them. It happened, but it was rare. So when Rebecca Stern, a former employee of S.T.A.R. Labs that everyone had thought went missing after the particle accelerator explosion turned up, calling herself Hacker, it was pretty surprising. Not so surprising that she had it out for Harrison Wells. Except she didn't know that the Harrison Wells she hated so much, Thawne, no longer existed. And the man she'd set her sights on was actually Harry. Sure, he was guilty of causing the explosion on his Earth. But here, the blame wasn't his. It always seemed to follow him around, however. And he swallowed it whole, despite not needing to. Briefly trying to explain he wasn't who Rebecca thought he was had failed miserably. And the next thing everyone knew, she was suddenly behind Harry, her fingers pressed into his temples. Watching Harry fall to his knees, in such sudden and rigid pain had them all gasping. Barry was at a hospital fire across town. The only other meta in the room was Cisco. And Hacker was just too close to Harry to do anything without hurting him, too. 

"He's got you all fooled, doesn't he." Hacker hissed out, small electric pulses beginning to flow out of her fingers and into Harry's head. His face slowly went calm, as if whatever pain he'd felt had disappeared. But his eyes were blank. And that was just frightening as hell to Cisco. Harry's eyes had always been full of vigor and controlled emotion. Seeing them entirely empty was terrifying. "But that's alright. You're about to see what happens to a man like Harrison Wells when he can't control his darker side." And suddenly, Harry's eyes weren't empty anymore. "Enjoy the ride, Doctor Wells." Hacker pulled her hands away, then fizzled out of view in a burst of electric sparks, leaving Cisco, Jesse and Caitlin alone with Harry. Except Harry wasn't Harry. At least not the Harry they knew, the Harry that Cisco loved. In a breath of a moment, he was swinging his pulse rifle around. And firing at them. And the look in his eyes was unmistakably dark, even cruel. It was a look that shook Cisco right to the core.

It took Cisco stepping out in front of him, hands out, his goggles on, prepared to hit Harry with energy, for Harry to pause, narrowing his gaze. "Really gonna hurt me, Ramon?" Harry stepped forward, his tone seething malice, "You don't have it in you. You're too 'good'. Too much conscience, always holding you back. Makes you weak. It's why you're so easy to manipulate. Why you think this thing with us is real. You're pathetic." 

Cisco hadn't been able to help the instant burning in his eyes, the way his voice cracked when he talked. "This isn't you, Harry. Just snap out of it!" He blurted. But Harry smiled. And it was altogether terrible and cold.

"It really is me, Ramon." And with that Harry raised his weapon, and Cisco let his power loose, sending the man he loved flying hard into a wall. A moment later, Harry came-to, head bruised, confusion in his eyes. Then fear. Then anger and grief as it dawned on him what he'd done. What Hacker had made him do. 

That had been nearly three weeks ago. 

They'd eventually caught Hacker, but Harry distanced himself from everyone and everything as much as humanly possibly since. He barely talked to anyone. Only appeared when they needed his help with a meta. No longer came back to Cisco's place. Harry Wells had turned into a self loathing ghost. And Cisco Ramon missed him more than he could get Harry to realize. It wasn't for a lack of trying, of course. He tried every damn day. Tried to get Harry to listen or stay in one place long enough to have a real conversation. Hell, he'd done just about everything except skywriting at this point. They'd all tried, actually. Jesse, Caitlin, Barry. Everyone. 

But Harry couldn't get past it. 

Harry couldn't forgive himself. 

Harry didn't want anyone forgiving him, either.

But that was just too damn bad. 

S.T.A.R. Labs was practically a ghost town on a Sunday. Unless metas were running rampant, Barry, Caitlin, Jesse and usually Cisco gave the building a wide berth. So the only ghost haunting the halls was usually Harry. Except for today. Today, Cisco had plans. He'd called Harry down to one of the cells in the pipeline, saying he needed help fixing the hydraulics in the door. But as soon as Harry was inside, Cisco sealed him in. No way in hell he could avoid him now.

"Ramon." One word, angry and flat, echoing oddly through the speaker. "Open the door." He ordered, brows furrowed, lips thin, the lines on his face set in frustration. Harry didn't like being cornered. And Cisco was beyond caring. 

"Nope. Not until you listen." Cisco said, leaning against the metal braces to the left of the cell. He gave Harry a pleasant little smile, but all Harry did was ball his hands into fists.

"We've been through this. There's nothing to talk about." Harry growled out. Cisco rolled his eyes.

"Um, no. WE have not been through anything. Because YOU keep avoiding me." Ramon said, then motioned to Harry, "This was the only way to get you to stay put so we can." He smirked lightly. "Actually surprised you fell for it." 

"Ramon!" Harry practically yelled, smacking the carbine barrier with one hand. Cisco jumped a little, brow raised. "Let me out. Now." 

"No." Cisco crossed his arms over his chest. "You're gonna stand there, and you're gonna listen whether you like it or not." Harry practically sneered, then. And Cisco swallowed. _God, I hope this was a good idea._ He stepped toward the carbine, peering at Harry without blinking. "You are the smartest dumb guy I have ever known. There is not a single person here who blames you for what happened. It was Hacker, man. Not you. None of it was you. You don't think we see that?" Harry shook his head at Cisco's words, then ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Except you don't see." Harry said then, his voice ragged and angry, but not yelling. Thank goodness for that. 

"Don't see... what?" Cisco prodded. And Harry gave him a sideways glance before turning and tearing his eyes away, planting his hands on his hips. 

"It was me. All of it." He cleared his throat a little, staring down at the cell floor. "She may have dragged it out of me, but it was there to begin with. Still is." He looked back at Cisco then, and the complete remorse on his face and in his eyes made Ramon's heart skip a few terrible beats. "I told you before, Ramon. I'm not a good man."

"Wait..." Cisco found his voice sounding far too delicate, but he kept going. "You're saying that... what you said, before I whammed you, that was..." he couldn't even finish the sentence. Harry met his gaze, and all Cisco saw was pain. Real, terrible, raw. Ramon grit his teeth and shook his head. "No. I don't believe that. Hacker may have dragged out your asshole side, but what you said wasn't the truth." Harry let out a short, exasperated sound.

"My asshole side. That's what you call shooting at you, at my daughter and Caitlin? It's not that simple, Ramon." He moved toward the barrier, putting his hands up on the see through carbon, palms flat, staring down at Cisco. "I enjoyed it." He grit his teeth momentarily. "I enjoyed making you afraid, hurting you..." he took in a sharp breath and let it out quickly, "It was only a few minutes, but I..." he pressed his lips together, "I wanted more of it. And I try so hard not to sleep now, because the moment I close my eyes, it's there. I can see it, all over again, like a movie on repeat. I can feel it. And as much as I hate it now, the me in that moment... didn't."

Cisco swallowed hard. He hadn't known that part of it. And it unsettled him, a whole lot more than it should have. Because he KNOWS Harry. He knows the man would never have done anything like that or said those things in a million years if it hadn't been for Hacker. But still... hearing Harry explain it, the turmoil on the older man's face, it made Cisco wary. And Harry could see it. He nodded quietly, then let his hands fall.

"You get it now." He said. "Why this," he motioned between them, "Has to be over. I would rather die than hurt you or Jesse or anyone. But for now, keeping my distance is the best I can do." 

And... Cisco's jaw dropped. Had Harry just called it quits on them? Cisco blinked, eyes stinging again, lips settling into a frown.

"No, you don't get to do that!" He blurted, then nearly punched the release button. The doors opened, giving him full access to Harry. Who he hit right in the chest, though not really to hurt him. "You don't get to break up with me because you're a little messed up in the head!" Ramon practically yelled. Harry's face was sober, solemn.

"A little?" He sighed out. "More than a little, I'd say."

"So what?" Cisco glared, "We're all messed up. Shit, we have to be to do this job. We all get beat up and pushed around and messed with. But you don't see any of us just giving up and calling it a day. What gives you the right?!" He demanded, unable to stop the tears from falling at that point. His emotions felt exposed and far too raw. Harry was still for a moment, then lifted a hand, a rough thumb smoothing away one of Cisco's tears.

"I'm not giving up. I'm trying to protect you. All of you." Harry's hand fell. 

"From what, Harry?!" Cisco demanded, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Hacker's locked up. She can't scramble your brains again. And I already knew you could be a dick before we even started this. You can't protect me from yourself because I don't want you to." He stepped right into Harry's space then, grabbing him roughly by the shirt, balling the material in his fists. "You spend so much time drinking up guilt you don't deserve, and it's infuriating!" He practically shook Harry, and the taller man let him. "You really want to protect me? Then stop blaming yourself. And come back!" He nearly cried, a choked sob escaping his throat. "Just... come back to me, man." He suddenly felt all the fight just go out of him, and flopped his head forward, pressing it to Harry's warm chest, still gripping his shirt but loosely now. Harry didn't move. Not at first.

But then his hands came up and peeled Cisco's hands away before stepping back, putting distance between them. When Cisco looked at him, he saw unshed tears in Harry's eyes. "I can't. Before, when I told you that you deserved better, Ramon, I was right. The metas will always be my fault, whether it's on my Earth or here. Anyone getting hurt by them is my fault. I can't fix it here. I'm limited by the restraints left behind by Thawne. But I can take responsibility. I can fix things where I started. I haven't paid for what I've done." He let Cisco's hands go. "I thought when we closed the breaches, I could just forget about everything I've done. But I can't. What I can do... is go back." Harry watched the painful realization take hold on Cisco's face, and he let out a tired sigh. "I'm going back to Earth-2 in the morning. Jesse is coming with me. We made the decision this afternoon." And without another word, a single tear falling from each of his crystal blue eyes, he stepped past Cisco and left. He was out of sight before Ramon finally found the will to turn around, crying, a hand tangled in his hair. 

Had this really just happened?

This... this wasn't what was supposed to happen.

He was supposed to be marrying Harry. Supposed to be happy with Harry. Supposed to live out the rest of his crazy life with Harry.

But instead...

Instead Cisco was sitting down on the cell floor, silently crying, staring wordlessly out at the pipeline. Instead, he was devastated, his heart was broken. And instead of living their version of happily ever after, the only person in the multiverse that Cisco Ramon wanted to be with was walking away...

**Author's Note:**

> (To be continued...)


End file.
